Abstract

To date, Italian historiography has paid little attention to the documents kept in hospital archives, in particular in the pediatric ones, which arose at the end of the nineteenth century in different cities across the peninsula. This article examines the recently inventoried archive of the Anna Meyer Pediatric Hospital, and of the Pediatric Clinic of Florence, which the hospital has hosted since 1901. In doing so it aims to assess the real potential of this type of source, which mainly consists of medical records. On the one hand, it sheds light on the various data contained in this documentation, relating to the social history of childhood, the history of the family and that of childcare professions. On the other hand, it discusses some critical points and gaps that may complicate the concrete use of these sources.